1421Brands – Branding E-commerce Platform
Overview
1421Brands is a B2B platform built to help African businesses brand themselves with speed and scale — think Canva + Printify + Shopify. Users can design, request quotes, and preview products in real-time 3D before ordering. I led backend & frontend architecture, implemented quote-based workflows, and built admin tools.
The Challenge
African businesses have historically struggled with professional branding at scale. Traditional routes — hiring agencies, using generic templates, or sourcing physical vendors — are fragmented, slow, and often price-prohibitive for growing SMBs. 1421Brands set out to solve this with a single integrated platform.
The technical challenge was significant: we needed a platform that could handle real-time 3D product previews, quote-based ordering workflows, multi-vendor product catalogues, and a B2B buyer experience — all in one.
What We Built
The platform is built on a modern full-stack architecture:
- SvelteKit frontend with Tailwind CSS for a responsive, fast UI
- Payload CMS as the headless backend — managing products, vendors, and orders
- Node.js microservices for quote generation and workflow automation
- Three.js integration for real-time 3D product preview in the browser
- Stripe / Paystack payment gateway with secure checkout flow
- Amazon S3 for media storage with CDN distribution
Key Features
Real-Time 3D Product Preview
Users can upload their logo, select a product (t-shirts, mugs, banners, branded packaging), and instantly see a photorealistic 3D mockup render in the browser — before ever placing a quote request. This was built using Three.js with custom GLSL shaders for texture mapping and lighting.
Quote-Based Ordering Workflow
Rather than fixed-price checkout, the platform supports a quote request → review → approval cycle suited for bulk B2B orders. Vendors receive structured requests, review specs, and respond with pricing — all managed through a custom Payload CMS admin panel.
Multi-Vendor Catalogue
Suppliers and print vendors can list their products, set pricing tiers for bulk quantities, and manage inventory through their own vendor dashboard. The platform routes quote requests to the most suitable vendor based on product category and location.
Architecture & Technical Decisions
Why Payload CMS? Payload gave us type-safe admin panels and a REST/GraphQL API without the overhead of building a custom admin from scratch. Its access control system handled multi-tenant vendor permissions cleanly.
Why SvelteKit? The application needed fast initial page loads and excellent SEO for product pages. SvelteKit's SSR capabilities, combined with Svelte's minimal runtime overhead, delivered sub-1s Time to Interactive across all key pages.
Results
Since launch, 1421Brands has demonstrated strong early traction:
- 500+ brand design requests submitted within the first 3 months
- 30+ active vendor partnerships onboarded across Lagos and Abuja
- Sub-1.2s average page load across all product pages
- 4.9/5 average buyer satisfaction score in post-order surveys
The platform continues to evolve, with upcoming features including AI-assisted logo generation, automated print-file processing, and expansion to East African markets.